Twice Your Mother
by JohnnynotSid
Summary: She was his maker, his mother, and she was not going to let him get away that easily. Eric/OC Godric/OC Rated M for adult content from first chapter on.
1. Chapter 1

_The roar of thunder was deafening to all but me. Through the confusion, only I could hear the sounds of choking coughs and sputtering coming from inside the grey tent. No one else was in there. The village was too busy running around frantically, some trying to escape the fires, some trying to put it out._

_I was concerned with neither, just the poor, pathetic sounds coming from inside the otherwise abandoned tent. Hortense, one of the women of the village, pulled on my arm._

_"There is no time to get him now. We must leave. He is done for." _

_I shook her off. The cowardice of these people sickened me. I had come to teach them my arts, to worship the Earth. But they were so quick to abandon the Earth they claimed as their home in the face of a little danger. Now they would also abandon one of their own when he needed them most._

_Lyall, the chief of the village, stopped and looked at me with fire in his eyes. "You! You are the cause of this! You! You witch!"_

_I glared at him. "Witch, you call me? If I were to possess great power, why would I have exposed myself this way? You imbecile, your village is burning and all you can think to do is accuse."_

_Hortense pulled Lyall away. "Witch or no, she wishes for none of our help. Let us run."_

_Lyall stole a quick, angry glance at me before running off with Hortense. With them gone, I rushed into the tent._

_I found him lying on skins on the floor, coughing pitifully, I could see his skin was ashen even in the dark. His dark brown hair was soaked in sweat and his young face was dirty. He opened his blue eyes in confusion._

_"You are The Crone?" He called out in shock, "But you look like Brigit."_

_"Can I not be both?" I asked, bending down and stroking his face. "Young man, how would you like your suffering to stop? How would you like to become a God yourself, be the God to my Goddess and live forever?"_

_"Am I worthy?"_

_"I saw you before you were sick. You have the spirit of a God." I replied._

_He nodded. "Then take me."_

_"Only if you promise to live the life I give you and serve me, be my son for all eternity. My son, my brother, my lover, my father. Be all this to me. Never abandon me, and share your life with me and I will let you live forever."_

_"Yes, oh yes, I will. I will live for you."  
_

My eyes fly open and I see the hard, grey plastic of my travel coffin. I know it's not time yet. The sun is still up. I need very little sleep anymore. I can wake up during the day from something so trivial as a dream. This was not so much a dream as a memory. The memory of the day I made my favorite child.

I reached into the folds of my dress and pulled out a small vial. Its silvery contents illuminated the inside of the coffin. I smiled, kissed it, and held it against my heart. This was all I had seen of him in three hundred years. How I missed him so. When I felt the quickening in my soul several days earlier I knew it was time to see him again. He needed me.

But first, I would pay a visit to my dear grandchild, who would surely have missed me, though I was sure he'd found a way to distract himself. I would propose that we visit his father together, a little family reunion. My boys were sheriffs, and that would give them both lots to do.

Sheriffs. I had to laugh. Of course being my progeny had helped them get far in the Vampire world, though I never much cared for titles and hierarchy. I could have been Queen of a dozen different domains if I wished, I could have been the world vampire representative. Everyone of importance knew my name and they all paid tribute to me. I was over fifty-five hundred years old. I was once worshipped as a Goddess and even appeared in the Holy Scriptures of two of the largest religions in the modern world. I had the powers of both witch and vampire. I had power beyond anything most vampires had ever seen. I could go wherever I wished and knew I would be welcome. But I would be especially welcomed by my boys.

I had recently been visiting all my children and had just been in New York visiting my daughter Agatha, the Queen of New York. Before that I had seen my daughter Marguerite in Provence, France and my son Klaus in Denmark. But I missed none of them more than I missed Godric.

But I would see dear, mischievous Eric first. My little Viking, who loved and unloved so many women and watched over human revelry with a haughty grace. It always made me laugh that a man who once rolled in the snow to clean himself and eat whale blubber could be so arrogant and elegant. He and my son had always made the most beautiful pair.

Godric had himself a beautiful son, and he knew it. Just thinking of that gorgeous Scandinavian vampire made me pull at my dark curly hair in excitement.

The sound of something mechanical moved, then the sound of some great weight hitting the ground. Ah. We had landed.

~-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------~

I strolled into the red-walled bar in my green and white off-the-shoulder silk top and black velvet slacks and every vampire in the bars eyes went straight to me. It didn't take long for the humans to follow suit. It was one of the effects of being over five thousand years old, supernatural picked up on and immediately deferred to you. I smiled and waved and felt Eric's presence in a back room, but then all of a sudden, he was before me and dropping to his knees with a cry of "_Farmor!_"

I stroked his blonde hair, then cupped his chin and brought him up. "_Sonson. _You are looking so well, but what happened to your hair?"

"An accident involving an upstart human, Farmor," he replied. "I take it you do not like it?"

"On the contrary," I said adoringly, "It shows more of your beautiful face."

"This is my business," Eric said, "You are welcome to anything or anyone here free of charge, of course."

I looked around. Many poor, pathetic humans dressed in black and looking to be bitten seemed to patronize this place. It was a tourist trap, created after the great revelation for humans who were obsessed with our kind.

"Eric, you know that saying 'You are the company you keep'?" I asked him.

"Yes, Grandmother, I am."

"Well, let's just say you're lucky I never believed that nonsense." I replied.

He would have blushed if he were not Eric Northman. He merely gestured to the back, where a large chair was situated under spotlight. "Please, come with me."

I followed him to the stage area and he offered the seat to me. A beautiful vampire woman wit light brown hair joined us.

"I take it that this is someone special, Eric?" She said in a sly, teasing voice, as she eyed me from head to toe with extreme interest. "She's a hottie but what gives her a place in your chair?"

"This is Dinah, Godric's maker and my grandmother. She is fifty-five hundred years old and a greater vampire than can be found in almost the entire world, so show some respect."

She stepped back, her eyes wide in shock. "You are Dinah? Well I'm sorry ma'am I had no idea."

"It is quite all right," I said, smiling. "What is your name, Pretty One?"

"Pam, Ma'am. Is there anything I can get for you? There's a human here who is B Negative. Eric and I were going to snack on her but considering..."

I held up my hand. "No thank you, Darling. I barely need any blood anymore, I'm sure that girl needs it far more than I do. But don't let me stop you two from having a good time."

Pam and Eric looked at each other, then looked back at me. Eric whispered for Pam to go check the vault, then came closer to me.

"Grandmother, you know that I am heartily honored by your visit, but if I may ask, is there a reason you have come? I have not seen you for centuries. There must be a reason for your sudden arrival. Does it have anything to do with Godric."

"You will refer to him as 'father' in my presence, Sonson," I said sharply, "We are a family and I will not have that be forgotten. And for the record, my arrival does have something to do with Godric, yes. I miss you both and wish to see you. I wanted to see my boys again. I have seen many of my children recently, and have been saving you for last, dear thing. Now give your farmor a little sugar."

Eric smiled, leaned forward, and put his mouth against mine. A heat filled my body at his touch and I clutched the back of his head, forcing my tongue into his mouth. Our fangs appeared simultaneously and Eric broke the kiss.

"Farmor, you have lost none of your spirit."

"We are vampire, Eric, age does not slow us down." I dove in for another kiss. Eric pulled me away and out of the bar. I looked at him, "Oh, are we to do it outside?"

"Never." He said. "Not with you. Come."

He led me to his car and started it. I started massaging him between his legs as he drove at breakneck speed. We arrived at a large old plantation mansion. Eric lifted me up and carried me, fast as light, through the front door and up the stairs to one of the bed rooms. He threw me down onto the four-poster bed and pulled his shirt off. We both removed every piece of clothing furiously before Eric swiftly buried his blonde head between my legs and using his tongue in a way only a man with a thousand years of experience could. My clit was erect and my hips were bucking before I knew it. I buried my hands into his hair and looked heavenward, gasping like mad. As the tip of his tongue met the little pearl between my legs I came hard. I pulled his head up by his hair roughly and kissed him, tasting myself.

I forced him on his back began a trail of teasing kisses down his chest to his lower abdomen and, just for fun, licked the tip of his cock. He let out a moan and I cackled. But I would not suck my grandson's cock. So instead, I sat on it and rode him like a mustang (horse and car).

"Come on, my boy," I said hoarsely, "Fuck me raw."

That was all the encouragement he needed before he grabbed me by the shoulders and twisted me so I was on all fours and he was behind me, ramming into me harder and faster than a locomotive. I could feel the room shake. He grabbed me hair and started pulling it, I threw my head back, laughing at the pain. It was all delightful, but I wanted more. I forced him down again, pulled his back up, mounted him and as I inserted his rock hard dick into me, I sunk my fangs into his shoulder.

Vampires don't normally drink each other's blood, but I was willing to make an exception for family. I let him bite me back and we sucked and fucked simultaneously, lost in a flurry of pain and pleasure. I scratched his back roughly and he cried my name. I laughed as he returned the favor and I felt myself coming close to my peak.

"No," he whispered. "Wait for me."

I tried to hold on until I reached down and felt his balls contracting. Oh yes. He was close. I counted. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. And then he let out a choking gasp and spilled himself. I let myself go and we soaked each other's loins. I collapsed to the side, and kissed him hard.

"Baby boy," I whispered into his ear, "You have not lost your spirit either."

He chuckled. "Well, I did for a while, but I think you brought me back."

"Oh? And why is that? Well it doesn't matter. When we go and see Godric again you can tell Grandma and Daddy all about it and it will be all better."

He didn't respond. I kissed his cheek and got off the bed, making my way over to a dressing table in the corner of the bedroom. It was an old style bedroom, much like the house, full of antiques. The mirror had dust on it and I wiped some of it off to get a good look at myself.

Looking at myself, I could not help but smile at what a pair Eric and I must have made. Him, pale, blue-eyed long and lean with that sleek, straight blonde hair. Me, my skin the color of amber, short and curvy, my thick curly black hair like tangled ivy and my eyes big and inky black. Such opposites in looks.

I caught the sight of Eric in the background. He stared blankly at the ceiling, like he had seen a ghost.

"What is it, Sonson?" I asked, "What is wrong?"

"I'm just wondering how in the world I'm going to tell you this," he said, "I thought you knew."

"Knew what?" I asked, suddenly feeling concerned. "What is it?"

Eric turned on his side and stared at me, the blood-tears welling up in his eyes. "Dinah… Godric is dead."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks for all your reviews! I am so thrilled at the response this story is getting! I'm amazed too! I hope you guys enjoy reading this next chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

"Dinah… Godric is dead."

Rivers of red poured from my eyes before the rest of me registered what he was saying.

"Dead?" I repeated stupidly. "Godric is not dead. He cannot be. It is impossible." I felt like my brain had fallen out and my heart had broken. Just the idea of my cherubic son no longer alive made every part of me hurt. No. No. Who had killed him? I would kill the monster who had killed my little boy. I would comb the world, hunt down and destroy the person who had taken my son from me. No mercy. No mercy.

Eric looked off into space and said in a hollow voice, "It is possible, Farmor, and it has happened. Godric killed himself. He met the sun a few days ago in Dallas. I was with him before he did it and a human witness was there to see him burn. He wanted to atone for his sins or some such nonsense. I couldn't stop him, though I begged him not to go."

I blood tear fell from his left eye and stained the mattress. I felt rage boil up inside me.

"He _killed himself?_" I shrieked. "No. No no no. My boy would not do that. He could never…. How could he do this? How could he do this to me, to us? I never even released him!"

"He said his existence was madness. He said… He said that it was right for him to die because he lived a life that was so wrong. He wouldn't listen when I told him it was madness. He wouldn't listen. He just wanted to burn."

I saw red. "That pathetic…. Cowardly ingrate! No! He still belongs to me!"

And he did. Even when our paths parted, I did not release him. I was his maker, his mother. His immortal life belonged to me. I had made sure he always knew that. For him to throw away the precious gift I had given him was an insult to me and to everyone who knew, loved, and needed him. I could not believe he could be so selfish? He had promised me! He had promised to live the life I gave him, to never abandon me! He had promised this every day we were together for a thousand years! How could he break his vow? How could my son do this to me?

"Eric," I said, my voice shaking. "Godric cannot be dead."

"Farmor, he is."

"No," I said, shaking my head, "Not completely. He can't completely die unless I let him."

"What? What do you mean?" Eric asked, shocked.

I went over to my pants and pulled the illuminated vial from one of the pockets. I handed it to Eric.

"You see that?" I asked. "Inside that vial is part of Godric's soul."

Eric looked at me, amazed. "What are you talking about?"

_He watched me as I circled the fire. I gave him a look of mock-disapproval. "You're supposed to be counting those." I said, pointing to the mound of treasure in his la. We had just pillaged and slaughtered a rich city of Irishmen. It had been my way of teaching Godric the ropes as a new vampire. Now, drunk on blood and new riches, we were residing in the house of the King._

_He smiled. "I just can't stop staring at you. You truly are a Goddess."_

_"That's possible, I suppose." I said. "I do have power of life and death. I have lived thirty-five hundred years, you know."_

_"You have made me so strong." Godric replied. "The world is at my feet. But am I truly immortal, as you are?"_

_I hesitated. "Not… Not entirely. You know you cannot see the sun, and a wooden stake through the heart can kill you."_

_"It would kill you as well, yes?"_

_I sighed and sat down next to him. "Not entirely. I have taken… measures to make sure not even those things can kill me completely."_

_"How?"_

_"With my magic," I answered. "I took pieces of my soul apart and hid them away in very special, secret places to make sure that even if my body dies, I can be reborn. I have never told anyone this, so you must keep it a secret."_

_"Why are you telling me then?" He inquired innocently. I smiled and cupped his beautiful face adoringly._

_"Because you are my love, Godric," I said, "My dear, dear love. I want to live for you, share my life with you."_

_"I want the same." He said. "You are my world. I could not bear to lose you."_

_I stopped for a second. "I could not bear to lose you, my wonderful prince. And I must not. Even if we're thousands of miles apart, I want a piece of you with me."_

_"Will you let me do the same as you have, so that I can never truly die?" He asked. "Would you share this magic with me?"_

_I kissed him. It was the only answer he needed._

I came forward in time two thousand years to the present and sighed. "Eric, you know I'm a witch. Well, over four thousand years ago I began expanding my magical powers to discover how to become truly immortal. Being eternally young was one thing, but if I were to meet the sun or be staked, I would still die. So I found a way of compartmentalizing my soul so that even if my body died, part of me would still be alive and capable of recreating myself on Earth. Years later when I started having children, I realized I could not bear to see them die, so I offered all my children the chance to put away part of their soul so they could be reborn even if their bodies died. More of them than you'd think said no, but Godric said yes. He willingly had part of his soul detached so he could truly live forever. I have two vials with pieces of his soul in it. Part of the reason I visited you was so that we could reunite and I could give Godric this one as a gift. But now I see I will have to use it."

"Will you break it?" Eric asked. "So his soul can be free?"

I glared at him. "Absolutely not. I mean to use it to bring him back to life."

"Farmor, he wanted to die."

"I don't care," I said simply, "He made promises to me he can't break. I am his maker, and he must live. He has disgraced me with this rash action and I will not have this be. I will take my boy back and he will live again."

Eric grunted. "And what do you suppose you will do when he decides to greet the sun again?"

"I have another piece of his soul in case that happens, and I will take another piece when I resurrect him. I will just bring him back to life again. He will die only when I decide he can."

Eric stood up. "I can't let you do that. You have to let Godric rest in peace. I can't understand it, but I have to respect his wishes. I can't let you disturb him."

"Actually, you can let me do this, and you will." I replied angrily. "You do not have a choice. What are you going to do, overpower me?" I snorted. "I could kill you before you moved so much as a finger. As much as I love you, Eric, I will gladly do so to bring my son back, but please don't make me."

Eric shivered. "I told him the day he died that I would stop him by force if necessary. He asked me even if I could, how could I be so cruel? I now have to ask you the same question. How could you be so cruel?"

"How could he be so cruel as to abandon the two of us, to abandon a world that needs him? I had been keeping track of him, Eric. I know he has become a merciful, loving, faithful and kind vampire, all his viciousness gone. He and vampires like him are the future of our race and just when he had the chance to come forward, he ran and took the easy way out." Thinking about it made my skin crawl. "I am not going to let him do that. Don't think I won't do everything in my power to make sure he fulfills his potential. Now, you can either help and get your beloved maker back, or resist me and never see either of us again. You want him back, I know you do. Now what is your choice?"

Eric looked at the floor. "He will fight you."

"I am quite aware of that, but I will make him see and understand what a mistake he made, you can be sure of that. I am his maker. He is bound to me."

"Fine," he said reluctantly. "But I will not help you until you've brought him back yourself, do you understand?"

I nodded. "Yes, Grandson, I understand. Now put your clothes on."

~------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~

_He sat with me upon the highest branch of a great oak tree, looking down in amazement that he had gotten this high by jumping. Watching him learn of his new abilities made me feel like a new vampire, like I was re-learning along with him._

_"You can climb any height you wish," I said into his ear, "You can fall great distances and you will live. There is little that can hurt you anymore. But beware the sun, wooden stakes and anything made of silver."_

_Godric looked at his hands with wonder. "Just last night I could barely move. I struggled just to breathe and now…"_

_"You no longer need to breath at all," I replied. "And you will be amazed at the strength and speed you have."_

_"Like you?"_

_I chuckled. "No, not quite like me. I am over three thousand years old, my dear Godric, the longer a vampire lives, the stronger they get. I will always be stronger and faster than you, but do not worry, I would rather die myself than see harm come to you."_

_"You are strong and fast, and beautiful as well," he said, "But why give me this power? Why choose me as your companion?"_

_"Because I saw you before you got sick. You hunted and brought your game to that girl Hetty, even though she never paid you any mind. You kept trying to gain her love. You have a determined spirit. I knew you could handle this life. I knew you should be my child."_

_"If I am your child, then I feel great shame." He said, looking away._

_"Why, why is that?" I asked him, reaching out to touch his face._

_"Because I see you are beautiful and I want… I want to know you."_

_I made sure he was looking away and I reached up to the back of my neck and undid the ties of my dress. I let it fall off and I took his hand. He looked over at me and his jaw dropped. _

_"It is no sin between vampire relations," I said. "I am your mother, but I can also be your lover."_

_"I have… never touched a woman before," he said, staring at my breasts. "I don't know what I can do to please you."_

_I smiled. "Just try, I will help you. Follow my lead."_

_I placed his hands on my breasts, leaned in, and whispered for him to pinch. He did, and I began licking behind his ear and rubbed his chest. I kissed him full on the mouth and my tongue sought entrance, which he gave me. I explore his mouth my tongue as he played with me. I took his right hand and slipped it down between my legs, guiding his fingers inside the outer folds and pushing them against the exposed piece of flesh there. All on his own, he started to rub my clit back and forth and I moaned. All was to be fair, so I reached inside his loin cloth and began massaging his balls._

_He grunted and moaned, much like a typical virgin during their first time. I felt droplets of pre-cum issuing from the tip and I pushed him so his back was against the trunk of the tree. I then angled his pelvis so his cock was pointing up and out. With one kiss, I lunged forward and impaled myself on him, we both bucked our hips wildly and held onto a branch above me for balance. I was so wet that my thighs played host to waterfalls coming from my crevice._

_"Faster, harder," I moaned, "Increase both and don't… don't stop…"_

_Godric howled out in pleasure and I laughed at my control over him. When he called out the word 'mother', rather than being put off, I was excited by the added zest of the possible incestuous implications. I reached down with one arm and clawed at his chest, drawing blood. I ran my fingers along the red liquid and then sucked on my fingers, delighting in the taste._

_"I'm close," I said to him, "I'm going to climax. Cum with me. Let loose, my son. Let it go!"_

_He didn't need any more encouragement. His loins exploded inside me, causing a rush of warmth to greet my nerves. I came as I felt his cock soften inside me. I smiled at him._

_"How does it feel to make love as Gods?"_

~-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~

Even after I had become a vampire, I had retained my powers. I had worked long and hard at manipulating my vampiric state and the state of others. I had invented the spell over four thousand years ago and would now be able to try it for real. I could barely contain my excitement. I sat at the top point of the pentacle, digging a small hole in the center of it. Once I was finished, I dropped the vial with Godric's soul into the bottom, pulled the mandrake out of the pot by my side and planted it in the ground. I then extracted a small box and a vial filled with white, sticky liquid and emptied the contents of both onto the hole, then filled the rest of it with soil. I then took a knife, made a large gash on my hand and let the blood drip over onto the hole for five minutes.

I stopped the flow of blood with a rag and turned to face away from the hole, towards the setting sun, almost completely gone but for a few rays. I said the incantation over and over until the light was completely gone.

The ground began to shake violently. Cracks formed in the dirt. I shook back and forth, repeating the incantation until there was a small explosion behind me and I was thrown forward several yards.

The rumbling stopped and I heard a cry of anguish. I turned around carefully.

Lying in a small crater that had been the pentacle was a naked Godric.


	3. Chapter 3

My boy.

Overcome with emotion, I hurried over to him and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Godric, oh my Godric!" I cried tears onto his shoulder for joy. He stayed still.

"Mother," he said in a hollow voice. "Why am I here, why am I alive?"

I sniffed and pulled back to face him. "Because, my boy, I brought you back. Remember when I took a piece of your soul so you could never die? I used that to bring you back."

He looked horrified. "But Dinah, I wish to die. That is why I met the sun."

"You had no right to do that," I said sadly, "You gave up the right to die two thousand years ago when you gave me a ppiece of your soul so I could ensure your immortality. When you promised to live and share your life with me and never abandon me in exchange for immortal life. You still owe so much to me, to Eric, to everyone who knows you and the entirety of vampire kind. It is not your time or your right to choose to die. You bound yourself to me."

He stared at me, horrified. "I have not seen you for three hundred years, how can you claim I am bound to you?"

"Because I never released you!" I protested, not understanding how he could not comprehend this. "Yes, we parted ways because I wanted you to live your life how you wished and live for a time without me by your side. I wanted to give you some freedom, but I never released you! I never severed our connection or our agreement. I never stopped being your mother! Just because I am not with you physically does not mean we are not still connected!"

"You are not my mother." He said angrily, his eyes narrowing. "My mother was named Petronella. She was a human woman."

My heart shattered into a million pieces. "Godric, I am the woman who gave you life, over and over again. I am the woman who made you who you are today. How can you say that I am not your mother. Twice now I have given you life. You have called me mother for two thousand years. You cannot suddenly say someone is not your mother when you have known them as such for two thousand years!"

"A mother would not think she owned me. A mother does not decide when someone can die."

"Oh, and a person should have the right to pick their own death for themselves?" I asked."Godric, I know you are confused and I know things have been hard, but this was the coward's way out and you know it. How could you abandon everyone when the vampire world needs people like you? It is not your time!"

"No," he said, "My time was two thousand years ago lying in a tent in a village in England that was on fire, dying of pneumonia. But you stopped that. Instead you gave me this two thousand year long bout of insanity!"

Tears ran down my face in rivers. "Is that what you think your life was? Insanity? Is that also what you think of me? Of my life? Do you think I should greet the sun as well? That all vampires should? That we should all die just to settle your conscience?"

"It might be a better thing, a solution to all the harm I have caused for me to die. I had to atone for my sins! This isn't about you!"

"You don't atone for sins by dying! You atone by working to make the world a better place. Something you could have done, but you decided to abandon that responsibility instead. Do you think it really means something that you burned to death after all the pain and suffering you've caused in your life? Do you think the world would be any less bad because you died? No, it isn't. You just leave a mess. The only way to fix things is to do good just as you have done bad, to clean up some messes and care for those you love so you can add some positivity to the world instead of just negativity! You can't just check yourself out and expect everything to be okay! You hurt all those who loved and deprived a world that needs you of all you have to offer it. And you have no right to do that, You have no right to do that and you had no right to try and abandon me!"

I felt the weight of two milleniums worth of love come down on me and I cried. I cried for the son who no longer wanted life, who no longer saw me as his mother. Who no longer cared for anything. I cried and cried. I cried so much I did not even realize that Godric had wrapped his arms around me and started to cry with me, moaning apologies in my ear.

When I finally came to, I pulled away and looked at him. "You're… holding me."

He looked at me with a sad smile. "Yes, Mama, I am. I am so sorry. I didn't understand. I was confused. I never should have tried to kill myself. Thank you so much for bringing me back. I will make amends, I promise."

I smiled at him and kissed him. "Of course you will, my child. I know you will."

~-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~

Two hours later Godric was sitting in the parlor of Eric's estate in some of Eric's black clothes, staring at the empty fireplace. Eric sat to his side, staring at his maker with a mix of wonder and nervousness. I entered the parlor and put my hand on Godric's shoulder. He looked up at me.

"Mother, I will live but… I am not sure how."

"One night at a time, Godric, one night at a time. The three of us must stick together. We need each other more than ever."

"I want to go back to Dallas," my son said, "To see Isabelle and the others. I want to see what has happened in my old area. I miss the city."

"Godric, do you really think that's wise? Everyone there thinks you're dead. Someone might become suspicious of you if you turn up living or something. They might think it's a plot to take back Dalla, possibly even Texas. Everyone knows you could have been king if you had wanted to."

"Why don't we have Isabelle travel to Shreveport to meet you instead?" I suggested. "It might seem less strange if you have a meeting with her before you go to Texas. She can prepare people back in Dallas for you."

Godric nodded at me. "We will do that then. That is, if Eric does not mind playing host to another sheriff for a while."

"Of course not. I will send an invitation to Isabelle tonight."

~----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~

I sat out on the porch in one of my old navy blue dresses, my ponytail tied with a ribbon. The night was beautiful, but it was a little too hot. I didn't care too much though. The sounds coming from the woods were entertaining and somewhat musical.

I did something I had not done for centuries: I took a breath. It was strange at first, taking in the humid air, but strangely refreshing.

I smelled his scent before he walked behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. I placed my hand over his. "I'm glad he's back too."

"He doesn't talk much. He just seems really contemplative." Eric mused. "I'm worried about him."

`"I think you're the only person on the planet who loves him as much as I do," I commented. "He's the only person you'll think of besides yourself."

Eric ignored the remark. "Do you think he will try to greet the sun again?"

"No. I've convinced him that it would be a cowardly act. I think I've persuaded him to live again, I just need to find a way to get him to enjoy it." I said grimly. "He used to love life so much. He used to love being a vampire."

"He has changed," Eric admitted. "He's become… merciful. He's so afraid of spilling any blood. He's so passive. When the Fellowship took him, well, when he volunteered himself, his rationale was that they were going to take someone and they treated him well. He didn't even seem to care that they had violated his rights and spread hate about him and his kind and were trying to kill him. He only did something when humans were threatened. He forgave a traitor, and just gave up his post as sheriff when Nan Flanagan got on his ass. He put up no resistance. He does not even eat. I offered him an AB Negative human and all he can say is 'I'm not hungry.' It's like he hates what he is."

"That's not good. He can hate what he's done, but not what he is." I said. "Like a lot of other people, he doesn't seem to be able to differentiate between the two. You'd think after two thousand years he wouldn't have this problem."

"What are we going to do?"

"Delay Isabelle's invitation. We need to have him around humans. Are there any humans he knows or trusts?"

"There's one. She lives in this area, actually. She's not completely normal, though. She's a telepath. But she helped us find and retrieve Godric from the Fellowship. She's in a relationship with one of the vampires in my area."

There was something in the way he said that last sentence that caught my attention. "Are you interested in this human?"

"I have a minor sexual interest. I tricked her into sucking my blood, so she's not that thrilled with me."

I grunted. "Fantastic. Well then, Godric and I will have to approach her alone. How do I contact her?"

"She works at this redneck bar and grill in Bon Temps as a waitress. The place is called Merlotte's."

"We'll go see her tomorrow night. What's her name?"

"Sookie Stackhouse. She's the blonde with the gap between her teeth and the big brown eyes. Really sweet, but she can get a bit feisty if you piss her off."

"I'll try not to. How does she feel about Godric?"

"He saved her from a rapist and saved her life in the same night. She was the one who was with him when he died."

"Then we can trust her."

"She has proved to be a courageous and loyal friend of our kind and to me."

Eric and I looked over toward the door where Godric had appeared.

"Darling!" I said, getting up and hugging him. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I am fine. I'm sorry to have worried the two of you."

"Don't think about it. You just try and feel better. We were thinking of having you see one of your human friends!"

Godric gave me a steady look. "Dinah, I am not a child, please stop treating me like one. I do not need you to arrange play dates for me."

I blushed. "Sorry. I'm just trying to…"

"I know," he said, cutting me off. "But it's going to take some getting used to. I may see Sookie now that I'm in the area, but I don't want to have you holding my hand the entire time. This is me you're dealing with, don't forget that."

I smiled. "How could I?"

I was overcome with guilt. My boy was suffering, and I didn't know how to help him. I could not help but think that if I had been there, if I had not gone three hundred years without seeing him, I could have kept this from happening. I did not want him to see any joy in death. I wanted him to love his life, and he had lost that.

I had had a similar crisis of faith a few millennia prior to this. But what kept me going was seeing the constant brutality humans inflicted on each other. I lost the shame I felt in eating when I saw how humans could and would do much worse to their own kind. I went through a period where I only killed evil doers, but in a world of prejudice, ignorance and oppression there were very few humans that did not fit the bill. Everyone seemed to be a child abuser, or a slave owner, or a thief, or a corrupt exploiter of the masses, or a fountain of intolerance, or a rapist. You couldn't find many people who did commit act of evil.

But I saw hope as the world changed, and now the world was becoming brighter than ever. More acceptance, more understanding, so much though that even our kind could reveal ourselves to the world. I could not understand how Godric would not want to be alive at this point in history, when he could be such an important player in the coming events!

He asked me not to forget who he was, but I felt like he was forgetting himself.

I looked him up and down, not sure what to make of him. He had cut his hair short, which emphasized the roundness of his faith. His blue eyes were deep set and held a weight that let you know that he had seen more than his cherubic face would lead you to believe. Peeking out from the black tank top Eric had loaned him was the black fringe tattoo that circled his shoulders. He was such a mixture of innocence and guilt. He was haunted in a way only a vampire could be. I wanted so badly to reach out and pull him into my arms and never, ever let him go.

As I watched him, I tried to picture him when we had parted ways. We had been in Berlin and he had devilish smile on his face constantly, especially as he drank from a servant girl named Freida who had fallen in love with him. But I didn't see that person anymore. I had to wonder, when did he change? When did he decide that in addition to being merciful and good he should hate himself at the same time.

"Come sit with us, Sweetheart," I said, patting one of the chairs. Godric sat and looked up at the crescent moon.

"So beautiful," he commented, "But I have seen it so many times. When I… Went out, it was the first time I had seen the sun in two thousand years. I had forgotten how beautiful it was. I was so filled with joy…"

"You can be happy again, Godric, for you to find happiness in death is just madness." Eric said.

"But I have been dead for two thousand years."

"No, you have not," I snapped. "You merely have been in another phase of life. None of us are dead. We living in the physical world, we cause things to happen and interact with things and beings around us. A dead person cannot do that."

He looked at me. "Our hearts don't beat. We don't breathe. We don't process food. Those are the things living things do as well."

"We are not any less alive just because our mechanics work differently." I argued. "It's just a different miracle."

"I love you, Mother. And I will see Sookie Stackhouse tomorrow."


End file.
